Holiday Retail Sales Rise Despite Ongoing Inflation [Video]

What’s New

Holiday retail sales rose this year despite Americans still feeling the effects of inflation, new data released Thursday found.

Why It Matters

Retailers were under pressure to get shoppers to buy their holiday gifts early and in bulk since there were five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. The shorter holiday shopping season wasn’t the only setback for retailers as this year’s presidential election caught the attention of many consumers. Sales of general merchandise fell 9 percent in the two weeks that ended November 9, according to the market research group Circana.

Consumer spending makes up almost 70 percent of economic activity in the United States. Americans’ spending habits are carefully watched by economists, particularly during the holiday season, to see how they’re feeling financially.

What To Know

The Mastercard SpendingPulse, a tracker for all kinds of payments including cash and debit cards, found that sales from the beginning of November through Christmas Eve …